In the verses I read Our Lord says: " And never think of those who have been killed in the cause of Allah as dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, receiving provision, Rejoicing in what Allah has bestowed upon them of His bounty, and they receive good tidings about those [to be martyred] after them who have not yet joined them - that there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve. They receive good tidings of favor from Allah and bounty and [of the fact] that Allah does not allow the reward of believers to be lost -"1

In the hadith-i sharif I read Prophet (PBUH) says: "Nobody who enters Paradise will (ever like to) return to this world even if he were offered everything on the surface of the earth (as an inducement) except the martyr who will desire to return to this world and be killed ten times for the sake of the great honour that has been bestowed upon him." 2

Dear Believers!

Exactly 100 years ago, at the Dardanelles of Çanakkale "Çanakkale is impassable," said an epic written agains armies of the world. Enemy armies were defeated by a rare victory not precedent in history. For the sake of God, for religion, faith, nation, country, flag, rights, justice, virtue, morality and sacreds they faught bravely. Our soldiers faught for İ'lâ-yi kelimetullah to maket he Word of God the highest. They shed their blood, sacrificed their lives for this very religion of God. They drank the sherbet of shahadah (martyrdom). They achieved the highest goals, They defeated the tawheed, They maintained the dignity and honor of Islam. They preserved the honor of Muslims. They not gave way to enemy to touch our mosques with their dirty hands. They not silenced the edhans in our skyes. They faught within poverty, deprivation and the impossibilities, and they never withdrew back. They made shields of their faith-filled chests, They achieved this great victory by the help of God, by their faith, their courage and self- sacrifice. They also thaught the war ethics to the contemporary World, sometimes they carried the wounded enemy soldiers on their backs. Shared their limited water with them. They showed kindness to humanity even in war zones, in battlefiels.

My Brothers!

Çanakkale is a land wrapped by bodies of martyrs in every mountain, every stone. Canakkale, by its land, by its sea is a place where many suns sinked downd for a crescent. From each home of Anatolia, from Rumeli, from all regions of the Islamic World, from each town; From Damascus, Baghdad, Palestine, Beirut, Cairo, from Kosovo, Skopje, Sarajevo they come to destroy the power of last crusaders. They were blood brothers until death. Çanakkale is the hometown of our martyred Brothers they had different languages, tribes, races, and towns, but united in faith, ideals, perseverance, purpose, intentions and feelings. Like Cennetü'l-baki’ and cennetü'l-mualla, Çanakkale is one of the world's most sublime and most sacred martyrdom.

My Precious Brothers!

Martyrs are our future. "Earth, if someone dying for the sake is a homeland " They did made this land home for us. Their light will always lighten our country, our nation. Today, as a nation, it is for us to keep alive the memory of our martyrs in our hearts and spiritual World. It is our duty to safeguard the lofty values they gave their lives for, not to give the game away. It is our duty to protect our freedom and work for our future, to raise our future generations in spirit of Gallipoli. To serve and build these lands which every inch is watered with the blood of the martyrs. It is on us as a nation, to live the solidarity and brotherhood of our martyrs who burried in dardanelles of Çanakkale with the older the young, the male, the female, the west , the east, the south and the North. Not to give way to those they want to destroy our brotherhood, unity and solidarity, those they want to seed bread mischief and discord between us.

Today, as a community made of brothers, we have to make the peace, brotherhood, justice, and virtues dominant in society with the same faith, same purpose, same determination, and same senses they had.

Let's not forget, As long as we keep the consciousness of unity and brotherhood alive there will be no goal beyond our reach, nothing we can’t afford, no success we can’t achieve and there will be no problem we can not overcome as long as we take lesson from history of Gallipoli. Enough we not fall seperate. As mentioned by the poet of our National Anthem Mehmet Akif:

A nation united can not be conquered by the enemy,

If hearts beating together no canon can overcome. "

My Brothers!

In this blessed moments of Friday, let’s come all together Shoulder to shoulder feeling in our hearts the conscious of our Brothers who fought in Gallipoli wishing to be together in the future, as in the past.

Let us finish this sermon with this precious supplication:

"Our Lord, forgive us our sins and the excess [committed] in our affairs and plant firmly our feet and give us victory over the disbelieving people." "3